Cyanobacterial Metabolite Calothrixins: Recent Advances in Synthesis and Biological Evaluation

The marine environment is host to unparalleled biological and chemical diversity, making it an attractive resource for the discovery of new therapeutics for a plethora of diseases. Compounds that are extracted from cyanobacteria are of special interest due to their unique structural scaffolds and capacity to produce potent pharmaceutical and biotechnological traits. Calothrixins A and B are two cyanobacterial metabolites with a structural assembly of quinoline, quinone, and indole pharmacophores. This review surveys recent advances in the synthesis and evaluation of the biological activities of calothrixins. Due to the low isolation yields from the marine source and the promise this scaffold holds for anticancer and antimicrobial drugs, organic and medicinal chemists around the world have embarked on developing efficient synthetic routes to produce calothrixins. Since the first review appeared in 2009, 11 novel syntheses of calothrixins have been published in the efforts to develop methods that contain fewer steps and higher-yielding reactions. Calothrixins have shown their potential as topoisomerase I poisons for their cytotoxicity in cancer. They have also been observed to target various aspects of RNA synthesis in bacteria. Further investigation into the exact mechanism for their bioactivity is still required for many of its analogs.     

Development of a quantitative PCR assay for monitoring Streptococcus agalactiae colonization and tissue tropism in experimentally infected tilapia

Streptococcus agalactiae has become one of the most important emerging pathogens in the aquaculture industry and has resulted in large economic losses for tilapia farms in China. In this study, three pairs of specific primers were designed and tested for their specificities and sensitivities in quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reactions (qPCRs) after optimization of the annealing temperature. The primer pair IGS‐s/IGS‐a, which targets the 16S‐23S rRNA intergenic spacer region, was finally chosen, having a detection limit of 8.6 copies of S. agalactiae DNA in a 20 μL reaction mixture. Bacterial tissue tropism was demonstrated by qPCR in Oreochromis niloticus 5 days post‐injection with a virulent S. agalactiae strain. Bacterial loads were detected at the highest level in brain, followed by moderately high levels in kidney, heart, spleen, intestines, and eye. Significantly lower bacterial loads were observed in muscle, gill and liver. In addition, significantly lower bacterial loads were observed in the brain of convalescent O. niloticus 14 days post‐injection with several different S. agalactiae strains. The qPCR for the detection of S. agalactiae developed in this study provides a quantitative tool for investigating bacterial tissue tropism in infected fish, as well as for monitoring bacterial colonization in convalescent fish.     

Effects of potential probiotic <Emphasis Type="Italic">Lactococcus lactis</Emphasis> subsp. <Emphasis Type="Italic">lactis</Emphasis> on digestive enzymatic activities of live feed <Emphasis Type="Italic">Artemia franciscana</Emphasis>

In the present study, cellulase, protease, lipase and amylase activities were performed to investigate the effects of Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis CF4MRS bioencapsulation of Artemia franciscana. Our results show that cellulase activities (total cellulase—FPase activity, exoglucanase and endoglucanase—CMCase activity) were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in A. franciscana tissue homogenates compared to those in the control group after 8 h of L. lactic bioencapsulation. Notably, an exception case was found in β-D-glucosidase activity, whereby the cellulase activity was not significantly different (P > 0.05) compared to the control group. Administrations of L. lactis at cell concentration of 10⁸ CFU mL^?1 showed considerable improvement of other important enzymatic activities such as amylase, protease and lipase in A. franciscana. The amylase/protease ratio in probiotic-treated A. franciscana was recorded at 0.343, approximately two times higher than those without probiotic administration (0.184). In contrary, amylase/lipase ratio showed half of a reduction (0.330) in L. lactis-administrated A. franciscana compared to the control (0.614). Our study suggests that important digestive enzymes, e.g., cellulase, amylase, protease and lipase, can be enhanced through bioencapsulation of A. franciscana with L. lactis subsp. lactis, which could in turn lead to further stimulation of endogenous enzymes in the fish and shrimp larvae.     

内蒙古额济纳旗棉花施肥指标体系建立研究

通过棉花“3414”试验数据分析,建立额济纳旗棉花土壤养分丰缺指标,对每个试验进行回归分析和边际效应分析,制定出最佳施肥量（包括N、P₂O₅、K₂O）与土壤养分测定值的施肥模型;通过施肥模型,可计算出各个土壤养分丰缺指标下的最佳施肥量。额济纳旗棉花施肥指标体系的建立,用于制定不同地力水平条件下的区域性的施肥配方,可具体指导每个农户科学施肥。     

桑植县植烟土壤中微量有效态营养元素含量状况分析

为了解桑植县植烟土壤中微量有效态营养元素含量状况,共采集桑植县植烟土壤耕层109个土壤样品并进行了分析。结果表明:桑植县植烟土壤中微量有效态营养元素总体含量较高,但分布不均衡,各地区间差距较大,有效铁、有效锰、有效铜、有效锌、有效硼、有效钼、有效硫的含量均值分别为46.09、43.23、1.14、1.87、0.66、0.24、37.86 mg/kg,局部地区应重视补充锌、铜,桑植县优质烟叶生产应当采取控铁、锰、硫肥的措施。     

不同生态区域玉米种子收获期与种子活力关系研究

以辽单588亲本为试验材料,在3个不同生态区域杂交制种,研究不同生态区气象因子及收获期对玉米种子活力影响。结果表明,不同生态区与收获期的同一杂交组合的种子活力指标差异明显,不同收获期种子的子粒含水量下降趋势为海南甘肃辽宁,脱水速率平均为海南甘肃辽宁,灌浆速率平均为海南甘肃辽宁。制种区域的活动积温与活力指标呈极显著正相关;有效积温与活力指标呈显著正相关;降雨量与标准发芽率和冷发芽值呈显著负相关,与人工加速老化值相关性不显著;日照时数与标准发芽率和人工加速老化值均达到显著正相关,与冷发芽值相关不显著。辽单588种子在辽宁地区适宜收获期为授粉后53 d,甘肃地区为授粉后56 d,海南地区为授粉后47 d。     

卫星遥感和积温-辐射模型预测区域冬小麦成熟期

准确预测区域尺度的小麦成熟期,指挥麦收机械化作业有序开展,具有十分重要的社会和经济效益。该文针对目前区域冬小麦成熟期预测中时效性差、缺乏空间分布以及缺少定量描述等突出问题,选择华北地区河北、河南和山东3省冬小麦为研究对象,首先基于S-G滤波后的2013年冬小麦生育期时间序列MODIS LAI,采用动态阈值法获取抽穗期具体日期,即叶面积指数(LAI)达到峰值时的具体日期;然后基于由2008-2012年农业气象资料与地面气象资料构建的抽穗-成熟期有效积温模型和总辐射模型,逐个栅格单元计算MODIS LAI获取的抽穗期具体日期到当前日期的积温、太阳辐射总量,并结合全球多模式集合预报(THORPEX Interactive Grand Global Ensemble,TIGGE)资料对当前日期(5月10号至6月8号)之后的16 d冬小麦成熟期进行逐日动态预测以得到全部区域的成熟期预测值;最后采用农业气象站点的成熟期观测值对预测结果进行验证,结果表明:冬小麦成熟期预测值与观测值的决定系数R2为0.92,均方根误差RMSE约为3 d,两者具有良好的相关性。该研究方法对其他大区域的农作物成熟期预测具有借鉴价值。     

沉水植物苦草属在水体环境修复中的研究进展和应用现状

为掌握具水生态修复功能的沉水植物苦草属的研究现状,综述了国内外近30年关于该属植物的生物学特性,与各类环境因子之间的相互作用,以及在工程中的具体应用等方面的内容。已有研究结果表明,有序地种植苦草属植物,并与其他水生植物进行合理搭配,既形成优美的景观,又具有十分重要的生态修复意义。同时,为使苦草属植物发挥良好的生态恢复效益,指出现有研究中尚存在的问题,并提出今后的3个研究重点:(1)加大教育宣传,扩大应用范围;(2)规范种植管养,开发实用工具;(3)提倡资源化利用,实现持续发展。     

总酚含量及多酚氧化酶活性与岩黄连愈伤组织褐化的相关性研究

以未褐化的岩黄连愈伤组织为材料,于培养基中添加不同浓度的抗坏血酸,研究抗坏血酸对岩黄连愈伤组织褐化及总酚含量和多酚氧化酶活性的影响。结果表明：在培养第20天,各处理岩黄连愈伤组织的褐化率均低于对照;各处理的多酚氧化酶活性均高于对照,其中抗坏血酸浓度175mg/L的处理多酚氧化酶活性最高,为14.1400U/(g·min),比对照高72.3%;各处理的总酚含量均低于对照,抗坏血酸浓度为175mg/L的处理总酚含量最低,为0.4633μg/mL,比对照低88.3%。相关性分析结果表明,岩黄连愈伤组织褐变率与总酚含量呈正相关,与多酚氧化酶活性呈负相关;而岩黄连愈伤组织多酚氧化酶活性和总酚含量呈极显著负相关。     

加速腐蚀环境下钢板表面坑蚀形貌统计规律

采用光学表面测量技术对实验室加速腐蚀钢板试件进行坑蚀表面数据采集,通过建立不同龄期的锈蚀钢板表面形貌图讨论了锈蚀钢板表面点蚀特征随腐蚀时间的变化趋势。对于以局部腐蚀为主的锈蚀钢板,通过计算证明坑蚀平均深度近似等于腐蚀平均深度,且其随时间的变化趋势可以采用新型weibull函数加以描述。经过对垂直于钢板受力方向的坑蚀截面损失率进行探究,指出可以利用正态分布模型表征其随机分布规律,并建立了模型参数与坑蚀平均深度之间关系式。最后讨论了与腐蚀时间相关的钢板屈服强度退化概率模型。